Dove’s Identity

“You are more beautiful than you think,” is the message behind Dove’s newest commercial as part of their Real Beauty campaign. Since its creation in 2004, the Real Beauty Campaign’s mission has been “to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety.” Most companies emphasize corporate social responsibility, and many act as sponsors or donors to various non-profit organizations, but Dove masters the art of good public relations by utilizing socially responsible efforts in a way that merely promotes brand identity.

Brand identity is defined as “how a business wants a brand’s name, communication style, logo and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers.” As a strategic branding and marketing communications firm, BD&E is always trying to showcase the true essence of a brand. A good indicator of brand identity is the set of personality traits that come to mind in relation to a particular brand. With positive traits comes a strong brand equity, an asset that serves as the driving force behind price premiums and profits.

When most consumers think of Dove as a brand, they immediately think of strong values. Other characteristics that come to mind may include sincere, thoughtful, and kind. By integrating positive personality traits into nearly all of their marketing communications, Dove has effectively portrayed themselves as a brand who truly cares.

In the Real Beauty Sketches, Dove effectively taps into emotions by emphasizing a topic that hits so close to home for many of its female consumers. Although criticized for displaying a lack of diversity, the ad surely has created quite the buzz and currently has over 54 million views. The real question becomes: what effect will the internet buzz, and the real beauty campaign as a whole, have on Dove’s bottom line?